A monthly scholarship is granted through this programme to meet the educational needs of children who are doing their studies amidst financial difficulties. Financial contributions for this come from the foster parents.

Programme to enable non-school going children attend school

Section No. 28 and 29 of the CRC directly discusses the children’s right to education. Every child below 18 years has a right to school education and the government needs to provide necessary provisions in this regard. However, some children lose the opportunity of attending school regularly owing to various financial and social reasons. Therefore, the Department of Probation and Child Care Services has implemented a programme to provide necessary school equipment for such children in order to make them attend school.

The fundamental aim of this programme is creation of an ethical generation of children through ensuring their right to education. Assistances are provided for,

Strengthening them through the provision of school equipment.

Awareness programmes for children, teachers and parents about the importance of educating children.

Building proper co-ordination among principals, teachers, parents and officials for the benefit of the child.

This programme was implemented through the Child Rights Promotion Officers attached to the Divisional Secretariats.

Kepakaru Deguru Sponsorship Programme

Kepakaru Deguru Sponsorship Programme could be identified as a programme that provides further assistances for educational requirements of children. This is implemented as a monthly scholarship grant. The target group for this programme is talented children from families facing economic difficulties. Selection and referring of children are done through the Child Rights Promotion Officers and action is taken to pay Rs. 500/- or Rs. 750/- per child per month.

“Nena Diriya” Educational Scholarship Scheme

With the financial contributions of the private sector, a monthly scholarship is granted through a management board of this Department to children at risk of losing the opportunity for education due to various reasons. This programme is implemented as a sub project of the Sevana Sarana Foster Parent Scheme. Based on the wish of the sponsor, an amount ranging from Rs.1000/- to Rs.2000/- will be provided per child per month, under this project.

Assistance for Twins

This is an assistance scheme for health, nutrition and other welfare needs of twins born into low income families and also to safeguard those twins from becoming vulnerable. Provision of necessary funds for applications received at Divisional Secretariat Division level is done here.

Under this programme, payments are made as Rs. 7500/- for twins, Rs. 15,000/- for triplets, Rs. 20,000/- for quadruplets and Rs. 25,000/- for quintuplets.

Every applicant gets the opportunity to benefit only once in his life under this assistance scheme. Accordingly, it has been possible to provide relief to over 500 families per year through this.

Medical Assistance

This assistance scheme is implemented for the provision of relief for health and nutritional problems of the children of low income earning families. At the same time, assistance is provided for disabled children as well. Provision of necessary funds for applications received at Divisional Secretariat Division level is done here.

Under this, assistance is provided for medical treatment, surgery, nutrition and equipment used for physical disabilities.Rs.5000/= is paid for medical treatment and nutrition while Rs.10,000/= is paid for surgery and payments for equipment vary according to their prices. The amounts paid may differ according to the nature of the families of those children and the difficulties they are facing.

Every applicant gets the opportunity to benefit only once in lifetime under this assistance scheme. Accordingly, it has been possible to provide relief to about 500 families per year through this scheme.

Assistance in Sudden Disasters

An assistance scheme provided to continue the education of the children of families rendered helpless owing to unexpected disasters. Attending to the welfare of children subjected to difficulties by sudden natural phenomena such as floods, cyclones, landslides, house fires etc. is done through this. In addition to that, children rendered helpless as a result of the death of parents, abandonment, parents becoming victims of accidents or diseases, parents not returning from overseas, being handed over to temporary guardians, and the guardians being persons with physical or mental weaknesses are helped through this assistance scheme.

Rs. 5000/- is provided as assistance for a family if the children’s school equipment is destroyed in some disaster. However, the amount provided as assistance may vary depending on the intensity of the damages caused in different situations. The key objective here is to contribute to continuation of children’s education in any disaster situation. Provision of required funds for the applications received at Divisional Secretariat Division level is done here.